Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 5:32 pm Post subject: A Question To All of You

I was just born (I just turned 36 last December 13th) when both "The Partridge Family" and "The Brady Bunch" came out and I always hear from people who were in their teens back then that they was always a comparison with those two shows. Was it because those two shows were on Friday nights on ABC? Or was it because their was a compitition between Barry Williams and David Cassidy? Someone please give me an insight here.

It was natural to compare (or lump together) BB and PF because those two shows were both about non-traditional families, were aimed at the same demographic, and aired back-to-back on Friday nights on the same network. I think PF generally beat BB in the ratings (correct me if I'm wrong). But there was no real competition between David and Barry -- David won that one hands down. No contest there. But there were some kids who enjoyed BB more than PF just...cuz people like different things.

The reason why I asked this question because my sister who was only six years old at that time said she hated TPF when it first began because she thought they were copying TBB but as the weeks progressed, we started watching the show alot! She was brand new to the country at that time from the Philippines, struggle to understand English, and thought that Keith's name was "Key"! She ended up asking our parents, "who would want to name their son, Key?" LOL

Wow, that's interesting. Aside from both having blonde matriarchs with a large family and originating on ABC Friday nights, I've never thought they had many similarities at all. (Okay they both eventually shot an episode on location at Kings Island amusement park, but I digress! )

I mean Shirley was a widow, Flo was married to her gay husband Mike; Shirley's kids were talented, Flo's weren't (despite numerous attempts to the contrary); Shirley "was" the family maid, Flo had butch Alice to handle the dishes and crack wise; Shirley had Reuben to lean on, Flo had Mike & Alice; Shirley had real grass outside, Flo had astroturf in her backyard; Shirley's kids never developed "fro's" and Flo's boys/hubby did.

I mean Shirley was a widow, Flo was married to her gay husband Mike; Shirley's kids were talented, Flo's weren't (despite numerous attempts to the contrary); Shirley "was" the family maid, Flo had butch Alice to handle the dishes and crack wise; Shirley had Reuben to lean on, Flo had Mike & Alice; Shirley had real grass outside, Flo had astroturf in her backyard; Shirley's kids never developed "fro's" and Flo's boys/hubby did.

Bluebird,
While I was being kind of tongue in cheek with my response, you basically hit the nail on the head and the point I've always tried to make; that is, TPF was well-written and more "adult", TBB written "down" to more kid-friendly level with much more "juvenile", if you will, plots and humor. The other difference that really struck me and has stayed with me is that I could "buy" that conceivably, TPF could really be a "real" family; not so with TBB. Just me maybe, but I've always felt that way.

Joey, I agree about the Partridges seeming more "real". Also, the houses (hey, the Brady's exterior and interior shots were reversed and the PF house seemed more "lived in" or cozy), the yards (grass vs. astroturf) and the storylines were very different. In the BB, they hardly ever left the house and yard scenes and showed any "real" places (with the exception of Hawaii, camping, King's Island and a couple others). The PF had lots of scenes with real grass, woods, lakes, parks, etc. Most episodes showed the front of the house (with its real grass). Compare that to the BB's driveway scenes and astroturf background. I actually love the BB too, but comparing them through adult eyes, they seem soooo different on so many levels. Still love 'em both!

I've always thought the BB was more "cartoonish", and also feel that it was written for a younger audience. The first two BB movies were a hoot!
They only worked because they were a parody of the show that emphasized all of the pat BB schtick...Marcia's nose, the "new" Jan Brady...I can't think of any way to pull off a feature length parody of the PF because it was more maturely written. In other words, not as goofy.
Jeff